Monday, September 12, 2011

Nicknames

I do not even know how to say Nick name in Spanish, but I {have one}!!
This makes me very excited.
It makes me feel welcome!
It makes me feel at home.
One of {the gang}.
Okay, maybe that is a stretch..
BUT
Here is the scoop.
The other day at Yineth's (Jeanette's) seventh birthday party
the people who I have seen at every one of her
birthday parties since she turned four...well,
They called me guera (gwera).  They were not referring to me in the
third person, sino they were saying, "hey gwera!"  This means that 1.  They cannot remember my name
from year to year, so they just picked something about me that would
distinguish me and make me look, and they called me that.
Gwera means "white girl, or white lady"
That is my nickname among Camelia's people.
So this is what Padrina said (I can never remember her name either,
but she is Yineth's god mother, so I call her "madrina")
"You are very skinny White girl"
bah ha ha ha!!
That is a very literal translation....
paired with knowing Madrina, and being in the moment, you
might translate it, ...
"My, My you are getting very skinny, white girl"
Not so different, huh?
So then we had a whole conversation about "skinny" etc.

 I will say, that in all of my experiences among all of the different
Spanish speaking people, they give nick names very much more readily than {we} do.
I guess {we} is the run of mill white people...b/c I think black people give some
nick names too...I mean just off the top of my head, I can recall, Muffin, Nique Nique, Tu
Tu--and I still see them every week! :)

Back to the party...
I heard
Little fat girl--Imagine the stuff this chubster will be saying on the couch--she is going to
be a United statesian after all!!--She will be on the {couch} --
I think "little fat girl" might not be so bad among the Mexicans...
It is all interesting to me.
Here are some other interesting tid bits...

*They do not sing {"Happy Birthday"} or "Feliz Cumpleanyos" --nope
they have a whole nother song...
**The Pinyata song is priceless...
Dale Dale Dale, no tiene sentido, ...some more stuff...
*"cookie" seems to love the drink--no matter what the culture, and his kid will be
in V-man's grade..cookie kept sending his kid over to fetch him beers--very funny!
**Does everyone --every family--have the AUNT the one who knows how it all has to be done?
My family has one...and so does Camelia's--she calls the shots..I held her 8 week old baby (and was thrilled to do so) and she led the festivities...when to sing, when to break pinyata, when to eat cake etc.
Aunt Elena btw...she knows the deal--so don't worry if you are clueless...

So these parties are so growing on me, and btw a {small } party for Camelia--who is expecting again, and
is tired, is 40 people or so...
ughh...
:)
SWEET!
There is more... so, I am not sure why I numbered #1 up there...but
At all of these parties I have noticed how all of the children just run around and around
into the night, and at 8:00 when Jacinto noticed my nervousness he said to me, "Susana, you know, in Mexico when we have a birthday party, the children just run around until they fall out...
it could be 11 o'clock or 2..just depends on the kid.."
I was just about to leave, and I did a bit later...but I thought that was
interesting too.
He knows my gwera hang-ups,
Watching my children with their kids, is always a treat!
Whenever there is a pinyata around children go nuts.
The one who get the stick (and I do mean a stick--a big one, one time it was a metal rod)
just swings and swings.
So, there I am, with that nervous stomachy feeling thinking, "um, someone  is going
to get their head busted open."
and V-man says, "I think we should all get in a line!"
bah ha ha ha --all over again..
No line was ever formed, the kids all knew --little children first, and then the big kids
(who actually break the thing).
At Mexican parties, the Pinyata moves {itself} Se mueve-if you will.
Mean trick to the gwera girl, but more fun to everyone else.
Also, the longer I am here I am realizing all of these connections.
Sanchez, the cook, works with/for Danny (Salt's husband).
He is a wonderful welder, and Danny loves him!
Sanchez's brother, well, he is the baker who made the cake and owns
a wonderful business downtown.
What a small world!
And to think...it is a world away for me, but just a quarter of a mile up the road.
Ay Que Suerte!

2 comments:

Bethany said...

I am glad you have a little world away from your world, and a nickname to boot... that is a wealth of fun and interest. Our next-door neighbors are Peruvian, and we have been to their little nieces Bday before - she is always dressed up {fancy!}, and the kids all run wild. The niece's daddy is from Tenn, and his nickname is gringo. :) So, we talked a lot as the token party gringos (and only non-span. speakers). Anyway! That is fun, fun, your friends - a breath of fresh air, no?

Susan said...

You hit the nail on the head, Bethany, a breath of fresh air...
;).

Spot on!

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